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'  .  I  Ol  5lv{  f^eow-. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE 

BY 

j^EY.  j^RED.  JR  Ajy INES. 


Rev.  xiv.  13. — “  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are 
the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth:  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labors ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them.  ’  ’ 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Bergen,  whose  death  we  this  day  deplore,  and 
with  whose  afflicted  family  we  have  met  to  mingle  our  grief,  was 
born  on  the  27th  of  November,  1790,  at  Hightstown,  Middlesex 
County,  ten  miles  east  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

His  parents’  names  were  George  I.  Bergen  and  Rebecca  Combs. 
George  I.  Bergen  was  a  descendant  of  the  Bergen  family  of  Nor¬ 
way,  and  Rebecca  Combs  of  the  Combs  family  of  Scotland. 

The  Bergen  who  first  emigrated  to  this  country  was  a  single 
man,  a  ship  builder  by  trade.  He  came  over  the  seas  in  one  of 
Commodore  Hudson’s  ships,  in  the  year  1621.  In  the  year  1635, 
he  married  the  first  white  woman  that  was  ever  born  in  the  prov¬ 
ince  of  New  Netherlands.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Huguenot 
parents,  who  had  fled  from  the  bloody  Papal  persecutions  in 
France. 

Dr.  Bergen’s  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Combs,  an 
aged  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Cranberry,  New  Jer¬ 
sey,  and  a  magistrate  and  judge  of  the  court,  a  man  held  in 
honor  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  ancestors  came  from  Scotland 
in  the  old  ship  Caledonia,  which  brought  the  first  emigrants  flee- 


4  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

ing  from  the  persecution  under  Archbishop  Sharp  and  the  dragoon 
Claverhouse  to  this  new  world. 

The  original  source,  under  God,  of  all  Dr.  Bergen’s  power, 
was  the  devoted  piety  of  his  parents,  and  their  careful  culture  of 
his  moral  nature.  His  appreciation  of  their  fidelity  in  after  years 
was  exceedingly  tender.  He  was  consecrated  to  the  ministry  by 
his  mother,  even  before  his  birth.  The  Rev.  G.  S.  Woodhull  was 
his  pastor,  a  silent  man,  except  in  the  pulpit,  but  whose  preach¬ 
ing  and  catechetical  instruction  inspired  in  young  Bergen’s  heart 
an  unusual  affection.  The  church — one  of  the  oldest  meeting¬ 
houses  in  New  Jersey,  at  that  time — stood  near  where  the  sainted 
Brainerd  began  his  missionary  labors  among  the  Indians.  It 
was  open  for  preaching,  by  appointment  of  the  presbytery,  one 
week  day,  and  the  boy,  then  twelve  years  old,  strolled  into  the 
gallery,  where  he  sat  alone  and  listened  to  a  sermon  by  the  Rev . 
Mr.  Rue,  a  one-armed  man,  from  the  text,  u  I  have  nourished  and 
brought  up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me.”  The 
picture  which  Mr.  Rue  drew  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  so 
melted  the  boy’s  young  heart,  that  he  arose  from  his  seat  and 
stood  as  if  entranced,  while  his  tears  dropped  upon  the  floor.  He 
left  the  house,  rejoicing  in  his  Redeemer,  but  said  not  a  word 
concerning  his  experience  to  any  one.  His  father,  however,  had 
seen  his  emotion,  and  asked  him,  some  days  afterward,  what 
made  him  stand  ?  He  replied  that  he  did  not  know  that  he  did, 
and  then  opened  to  him  his  whole  heart.  At  the  next  communion 
he  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the  church,  and  made  a  public 
profession  of  his  faith  before  the  congregation,  when  he  was  yet 
so  small  that  he  had  to  mount  upon  a  platform,  in  order  to  be  seen 
and  heard.  That  gallery  was  to  him,  ever  after,  the  most  sacred 
spot  on  earth,  for  there  God  enthroned  himself  in  his  understand¬ 
ing  and  affections. 

Dr.  Bergen’s  education  began  at  Cranberry,  in  the  parochial 
academy,  under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell.  A  few  years  later, 
when  his  father,  under  the  pressure  of  business  perplexities,  re¬ 
moved  to  Somerset  county,  he  attended  the  academy  at  Basking 
Ridge,  presided  over  by  Dr.  Finley,  in  which  the  Rev.  Philip 
Lindsley,  afterwards  president  of  the  university  of  Nashville, 
was  tutor.  Dr.  Finley  was  the  father  of  the  colonization  move- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 


5 

ment,  a  scheme  kindly  meant,  but  impossible  of  execution,  as  the 
event  has  shown,  to  which,  nevertheless,  Dr.  Bergen  gave  his 
life-long  adherence;  so  deep  were  the  impressions  made  upon  his 
mind  in  his  youth.  Mr.  Lindsley  first  awakened  in  him  a  taste 
for  reading,  by  putting  in  his  hands  the  Arabian  Nights,  then 
Don  Quixote,  then  Gil  Bias;  and  afterward  more  solid  books — 
Ramsey’s  American  Devolution,  Marshall’s  Life  of  Washington, 
Gillie’s  History  of  Greece,  Anicharses’  Travels,  Ferguson’s  Ro¬ 
man  Republic,  Rollin’s  History,  Plutarch’s  Lives,  Gibbon’s  De¬ 
cline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Robertson’s  Charles  V., 
Mexico,  and  South  America,  and  other  works  of  similar  character. 

In  1806,  he  entered  the  junior  class  at  Princeton  college.  Here 
the  ridicule  heaped  upon  two  pious  young  men,  nick-named  Daddy 

P - and  Daddy  W - ,  whose  room  he  shared  at  first,  led  him 

to  change  to  another,  occupied  by  men  of  dissipated  habits,  where 
he  was  sorely  tempted  to  take  the  first  step  in  a  career  of  vice; 
but  was  delivered  by  the  interference  of  one  of  the  party,  who 
cried  shame  upon  the  rest.  In  the  spring  of  1807,  a  rebellion, 
which  lasted  three  days,  broke  out  in  the  college,  in  which  nearly 
all  the  students  participated,  but  by  an  accidental,  or  rather  by  a 
providential,  absence  from  his  room,  young  Bergen  escaped  even 
so  much  as  a  solicitation  to  take  part  in  it.  During  the  latter  half 
of  his  senior  year,  in  consequence  of  unceasing  and  excessive  ap¬ 
plication  to  study,  he  fell  into  spiritual  darkness  and  thought  of 
abandoning  his  choice  of  the  ministerial  profession.  From  this 
distress  and  doubt  he  was  only  relieved  by  rest,  medicine,  and  an 
entire  change  of  scene . 

Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  the  president  of  the  college,  during 
Mr.  Bergen’s  connection  with  it,  held  certain  views  concerning  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  which  were  unacceptable  to  the  thorough¬ 
going  Calvinists  of  our  Church;  and  the  synod  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  advised  students  of  divinity  to  repair  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Woodhull,  of  Monmouth,  for  instruction  and  training.  This 
was  before  the  day  of  theological  seminaries  and  educational  so¬ 
cieties.  Dr.  Woodhull  preached  in  the  old  Tennent  meeting¬ 
house,  where  Brainerd  and  Whitefield  had  preached  before  him; 
and  he  lived  in  the  parsonage,  which  had  been  occupied  by  Lord 
Cornwallis,  as  his  headquarters,  during  the  battle  of  Monmouth, 


O  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

in  the  revolution.  His  method  of  teaching  was  by  written  ques¬ 
tions,  to  which  written  answers  were  required — the  answers  to  be 

prepared  by  a  thorough  examination  of  standard  works  on  church 
history  and  theology.  The  theme  of  Dr.  Woodhull’s  most  im¬ 
pressive  exhortations  to  the  students  under  his  care  was  the  duty 
of  ministers  to  faiow  nothing  else ,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified.  The  influence  of  Drs.  Finley  and  Woodhull,  as  will 
presently  be  seen,  gave  color  to  Dr.  Bergen’s  entire  subsequent 
career. 

In  March,  1810,  Mr.  Bergen  was  appointed  tutor  in  Princeton 
college,  an  honor  which  he  declined  at  first,  but  was  subsequently 
induced  to  accept.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  position, 
he  derived  much  assistance  from  a  wise  counsel  of  Dr.  Woodhull 
— “let  your  commands  be  reasonable;  and  when  given,  inflexi¬ 
ble  !  ”  While  tutor,  he  sat  in  the  gallery  of  the  Princeton  church 
and  heard  the  Bev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  in  1811,  deliver  the 
address  at  his  installation  as  first  professor  in  Princeton  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary.  With  the  theological  students  and  a  few  other 
young  men,  he  attended  the  weekly  Sunday-night  prayer-meeting 
in  Dr.  Alexander’s  parlor. 

In  1811,  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  by  the  presbytery  of  Hew 
Brunswick.  In  September,  1812,  he  resigned  his  tutorship,  to 
enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  sacred  calling.  On  the  following 
Saturday,  with  a  letter  of  introduction  in  his  pocket,  he  set  out 
for  Madison,  Hew  Jersey,  then  called  Bottle  Hill,  forty  miles  from 
Princeton,  and  twenty  miles  west  of  Hew  York  City.  The  dea¬ 
con  to  whom  his  letter  was  addressed  made  his  appearance  un¬ 
shaved,  in  shirt  sleeves  and  bare  feet,  but  treated  him  kindly. 
He  found  four  villages  in  the  congregation,  which  embraced  fifteen 
hundred  souls  and  two  hundred  communicants.  It  was  a  very 
compact  settlement,  covering  about  four  miles  square,  and  was 
one  of  the  oldest,  largest  congregations  in  the  presbytery.  Its 
position  in  the  presbytery  was  central.  In  four  or  five  hours’ 
ride,  one  could  be  at  any  place  where  presbytery  ordinarily  met, 
and  there  meet  more  than  thirty  ministers  belonging  to  it.  Mr. 
Bergen  preached  on  Sunday;  a  congregational  meeting  was  called 
for  Monday;  on  Tuesday,  one  of  the  elders  came  to  Princeton, 
and  after  making  such  inquiries  as  he  saw  fit,  an'  official  letter 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 


7 

was  placed  in  Mr.  Bergen’s  hands  on  W ednesday,  informing  him 
that  it  was  the  unanimous  desire  of  the  congregation  that  he 
should  consider  himself  a  candidate  for  settlement.  He  returned 
to  Madison,  spent  two  sabbaths  and  the  intervening  week  there, 
was  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  on  the  first  Monday  of  December, 
the  presbytery  of  Jersey  met  at  Morristown,  four  miles  from 
Madison,  to  examine  him  for  ordination. 

The  differences  of  opinion  and  sentiment  which  led,  in  1837,  to 
the  division  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  now  happily  reunited, 
had  even  then  begun  to  manifest  themselves.  In  Hew  England, 
the  type  of  Calvinism  known  as  Hopkinsianism  was  rife.  Some 
of  the  Hopkinsians  insisted,  that  before  a  man  can  be  saved,  he 
must  be  willing  to  be  damned;  some  said  that  a  man  can  as  easily 
change  his  heart  as  plough  his  field.  The  Hew  England  theology, 
as  it  was  called,  was  making  progress  in  Hew  York  City,  in  West¬ 
ern  Hew  York,  and  in  East  Jersey,  but  had  scarcely  penetrated 
into  the  presbytery  of  Hew  Brunswick.  There  had  been  a  strug¬ 
gle  in  the  General  Assembly  between  the  two  parties,  the  Hop¬ 
kinsians  and  their  opponents,  for  the  nomination  of  theological 
professor  in  the  seminary  at  Princeton,  which  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander;  and  a  few  years  later,  the 
other  party  founded  the  seminary  at  Auburn,  independent  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Upon  this  question  the  presbytery  of  Hew 
Brunswick  and  the  old  Jersey  presbytery  were  in  a  manner  pitted 
against  each  other;  and  ministers  could  not  pass  from  one  to  the 
other  without  undergoing  the  ordeal  of  very  close  questioning. 
Mr.  Bergen,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  licentiate  of  Hew  Brunswick 
presbytery.  The  presbytery  of  Jersey,  on  proceeding  to  his  trial 
for  ordination,  assigned  him  as  a  theme  for  his  latin  exegesis  one  of 
the  most  exciting  topics  of  the  day,  and  as  a  text  for  his  ordina¬ 
tion  sermon,  Romans  viii.  1 :  u  There  is  therefore  now  no  condem¬ 
nation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.”  In  the  sermon,  Mr.  Bergen  took  up  all 
the  points  in  dispute  and  treated  them  controversially.  After  an 
hour  in  criticism  and  canvass  of  the  sermon,  the  presbytery  pro¬ 
ceeded,  before  voting  upon  the  question  of  sustaining,  to  the  ex¬ 
amination  upon  theology  and  casuistry,  which  lasted  from  three 
o’clock  on  Monday  afternoon  until  a  late  hour  in  the  night,  and 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

was  not  closed  until  four  o’clock  the  next  day.  Whether  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  was  penal  in  its  nature,  and  whether  sinners 
under  conviction  of  sin  ought  to  be  directed  to  pray,  were  two  of 
the  points  most  debated — Mr.  Bergen  holding  the  affirmative  of 
both  questions.  One  would  say:  “The  sinner  can’t  pray;  ”  and 
another  would  insist  that  “  the  sacrifice  of  the  wicked  is  abomina¬ 
tion  to  the  Lord:  ”  but  to  every  inquiry  Mr.  Bergen  replied  in  the 
same  words,  “  I  would  direct  him  to  jpray .”  In  his  written  ac¬ 
count  of  the  exciting  scene,  he  remarks,  “You  may  as  well 
attempt  to  stop  the  north  winds  from  blowing,  as  to  stop  the  cries 
of  a  soul  awakened  to  see  its  lost  condition.  It  will  cry  to  God ! 
to  an  invisible  Saviour!  It  is  the  language  of  instinct,  in  this 
world  of  grace  and  hope.  The  man  who  will  not  cry  to  God  for 
help  is  not  a  convinced  sinner !  If  he  professes  to  be,  and  presses 
his  case  on  you,  his  inquiries  are  mere  cavils  out  of  a  proud 
heart.”  The  ultimate  result  was,  that  his  examination  was  sus¬ 
tained,  and  he  was  ordained  February  17,  1813,  but  not  without 
some  misgivings  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the  presbytery. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  ministry  at  Madison,  he  greatly 
desired  a  revival  of  religion  in  the  church.  He  had  never  wit¬ 
nessed  a  revival ;  but  Madison  was  revival  ground.  An  era  of 
revivals,  dating  from  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  James  McGready,  in 
North  Carolina,  in  1795,  marked  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
in  the  United  States.  In  1797,  under  the  influence  of  threats 
against  his  life,  McGready  removed  to  Logan  county,  Kentucky, 
and  an  extraordinary  work  of  grace  began,  which  spread  over  that 
entire  region,  and  of  which  many  accounts  have  been  published. 
In  early  boyhood,  Mr.  Bergen  heard  of  these  revivals  through  the 
private  letters  of  friends  addressed  to  his  mother.  In  1807,  when 
Dr.  Perrine,  afterward  a  professor  in  Auburn  seminary,  was 
pastor  at  Madison,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blackburn,  after  whom  Black¬ 
burn  seminary,  at  Carlinville,  is  named,  passed  through  that  re¬ 
gion,  on  his  way  to  New  England,  bearing  the  unction  of  that 
mighty  outpouring  of  God’s  Spirit  in  Kentucky  and  Tennesee, 
and  after  a  “four  days’  meeting”  of  Jersey  presbytery  in  the 
Madison  church,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  extensive  re¬ 
vivals  of  religion  occurred,  on  record  in  our  country.  This  was 
five  or  six  years  before  Mr.  Bergen’s  coming. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  9 

He  asked  counsel  of  his  older  brethren  in  the  ministry,  who 
advised  him  to  preach  Christ  crucified,  repentance  toward  God, 
and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  commenced  a  round  of 
earnest  labor.  He  spent  one  day  every  week  in  pastoral  visita¬ 
tion,  accompanied  by  an  elder.  Once  a  month,  he  catechised  the 
children  of  the  church.  On  Saturday  night,  he  held  a  weekly 
prayer-meeting  in  the  academy .  He  had  about  thirty  written 
sermons  when  he  was  ordained,  but  he  did  not  depend  upon  them, 
except  as  a  reserve,  in  case  of  necessity.  On  the  first  Sabbath 
of  December,  1814,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  his  ministry, 
a  revival  occurred,  which  lasted  for  five  months,  and  resulted  in 
the  addition  of  sixty-nine  members  to  the  church,  on  profession 
of  their  faith,  on  the  first  sabbath  of  the  following  May. 

Trial  was  mingled  with  mercy,  in  this  pastorate.  One  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  congregation  refused  to  attend  his  min¬ 
istry,  because  some  years  before  the  pews  had  been  rented,  con¬ 
trary  to  his  sense  of  right.  One  of  the  elders  of  the  church,  after 
disputing  with  him  in  season  and  out  of  season,  whether  sinners 
ought  to  be  directed  to  pray,  claimed  the  right  to  be  consulted 
as  to  what  he  should  or  should  not  preach,  and  endeavored  to 
stir  up  dissension,  because  the  claim  was  resisted.  Mr.  Bergen’s 
political  sentiments  were  in  opposition  to  those  of  his  flock,  and 
his  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage  at  a  presidential  election 
created  a  terrible  commotion.  But  he  held  steadily  on  his  way, 
growing  in  influence  and  power,  all  the  while. 

In  the  year  1819,  a  second  revival  of  religion  visited  the 
church;  and  a  third  in  1821-22, — a  work  of  grace  of  suprising 
magnitude  and  interest. 

In  the  autumn  of  1 821,  the  churches  were  in  such  a  languish¬ 
ing  condition,  that  a  day  of  solemn  inquiry,  fasting,  humiliation 
and  prayer  was  appointed  by  the  presbytery  of  Jersey,  in  the 
church  at  Madison,  in  the  latter  part  of  November.  After  the 
presbyterial  meeting,  special  services  were  held  in  different  parts 
of  the  congregation  for  about  four  months ;  when,  in  March,  the 
interest  suddenly  increased,  until  from  five  to  seven  hundred  per¬ 
sons  assembled  night  after  night,  flocking  to  the  appointed  place 
before  sunset,  and  this  continued  through  the  summer.  The 

—2 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

meetings  were  kept  np  during  the  harvest  and  haying.  A  hun¬ 
dred  souls  were  gathered  into  the  church  as  the  fruit  of  this 
revival.  The  year  following  was  a  year  of  revivals.  The  Boston 
Recorder,  in  1824,  stated  the  number  of  revivals  reported  from 
September  1st,  1822,  to  September  1st  1823,  at  four  hundred  and 
seven,  of  which  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  were  in  Presby¬ 
terian  and  Congregational  churches. 

At  the  close  of  the  meetings,  it  was  evident  that  a  new  meet¬ 
ing-house  must  be  built,  without  further  delay.  An  attempt  to 
build  had  been  made  several  times  already,  but  led  to  such  a  con¬ 
test  for  the  location  between  the  rival  villages,  that  it  had  been 
abandoned.  The  former  efforts  originated  at  congregational 
meetings;  the  new  one  with  the  board  of  trustees. 

Mr.  Bergen’s  diary,  for  more  than  three  months,  is  tilled  with 
references  to  the  struggle  which  now  ensued.  A  division  of  the 
church  and  the  establishment  of  the  church  in  Chatham  village 
were  the  result.  The  summer  of  1823  was  devoted  to  prepara¬ 
tion  for  building;  in  1824,  the  corner  stone,  with  Mr.  Bergen’s 
name  upon  it,  was  laid,  on  the  18th  of  May;  and  on  the  18th  of 
May,  1825,  the  new  church  was  dedicated,  with  much  rejoicing; 
though  the  pastor  noted  with  regret  an  increase  of  the  spirit  of 
pride  among  his  people,  which  showed  itself  in  a  change  of  style 
in  dress  and  manners,  and  in  envy  and  strife  after  the  highest 
seats  in  the  synagogue. 

Without  dwelling  longer  upon  this  part  of  our  venerated  father’s 
life,  the  memory  of  which  was  to  him  indescribably  precious,  let  us 
consider  the  causes  which  led  him  to  turn  his  footsteps  to  the  west. 
These  were  two.  First,  trouble  in  the  church  at  Madison,  occa- 
soned  by  an  unruly  spirit,  remarkably  converted  during  a  sermon 
in  the  new  church  on  “they  hated  me  without  a  cause,”  a  man 
full  of  zeal  and  of  spiritual  self-conceit.  He  was  the  son  of  an  elder 
then  dead;  himself  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  the  head  of  a 
large  family.  He  had  much  to  say  of  his  own  religious  exper¬ 
ience;  would  go  from  house  to  house,  talking  with  many  tears 
on  the  subject  of  religion;  attempted  to  preach  whenever  he  had 
an  opportunity;  rose  up  one  night  in  the  Masonic  lodge  and 
called  his  friends  there  to  repentance;  and  often  prayed  in  secret 
so  loud,  that  his  voice  could  be  distinctly  heard  at  a  distance  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  11 

more  than  half  a  mile.  He  was  a  good  man,  hut  an  enthusiast, 
who  lacked  ordinary  discretion.  This  man  insisted,  in  1826,  that 
Mr.  Bergen  should  invite  a  lay  exhorter,  named  Carpenter,  from 
the  presbytery  of  North  River,  to  hold  a  meeting  in  his  church; 
and  urged  his  piety  and  success  elsewhere  with  so  much  earn¬ 
estness,  that  consent  was  given  to  his  coming,  though  Mr.  Ber¬ 
gen  would  not  invite  him.  The  meeting  resulted  in  twenty  pro- 
festions  of  conversion,  which  did  not  satisfy  our  friend,  who  im¬ 
mediately  set  himself  to  work  to  find  the  Achan  in  the  camp.  He 
never  thought  of  himself,  but  exhorted  the  young  converts  to  try 
to  come  up  to  his  mark  and  try  to  excel  him.  When  asked  by 
a  skeptic,  “Do  you  believe  there  is  a  heaven?”  He  replied, 
“  Yes  I  do,  for  I  have  been  there,”  Finally,  he  decided  that  the 
pastor  of  the  church  was  Achan.  Such  a  man  can  do  much 
harm  in  any  congregation,  even  where,  as  in  this  case,  the  ma¬ 
jority  disapprove  his  course.  The  night  before  Mr.  Bergen’s  re¬ 
signation,  unknown  to  him,  a  great  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Academy,  to  rebuke  the  mischief-maker.  Had  he  known  it,  he 
might  never  have  left  New  Jersey. 

The  other  cause,  which  turned  his  thoughts  westward,  was  the 
removal  of  his  relatives  to  Kentucky  and  Illinois.  His  uncle, 
old  Major  Conover,  left  the  state  in  1790,  the  year  of  Dr.  Ber¬ 
gen’s  birth,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Woodford  county, 
Ky.  From  there  he  removed,  in  1821,  with  his  connexion,  to 
Jersey  Prairie,  in  Morgan  county,  Illinois,  where  he  is  believed 
to  have  cut  the  first  sapliug.  This  family  were  all  Baptists.  In 
May,  1818,  after  the  close  of  our  second  war  with  England, 
financial  reverses  consequent  upon  the  inundation  of  British 
goods,  led  Dr.  Bergen’s  father  to  remove  to  Kentucky,  with  nine 
sons  and  daughters  and  their  families,  whence  they  accompanied 
Major  Conover  to  Jersey  Prairie.  There,  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  his  mother  became  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  W.  Kenner,  a 
Baptist  preacher  from  Virginia,  who  was  an  agent  under  Dr. 
Peck  for  raising  funds  and  building  the  Rock  Spring  Seminary, 
out  of  which  Shurtleff  college  grew,  at  Alton.  On  the  removal 
of  the  family  fiom  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Bergen  accompanied  them 
two  days’  journey,  and  parted  from  them  at  a  place  called  New 
Hope,  saying  to  his  mother,  “Let  us  part  in  hope — New  Hope — 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

that  it  may  please  God  some  day  to  direct  my  steps  to  follow  yon 
thither.” 

Without  going  further  into  detail,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the 
agitation  in  the  assembly  of  1828,  of  which  he  was  a  mem¬ 
ber,  when  it  was  decided  to  organize  church  boards ,  and  a  visit 
from  his  mother  during  that  summer,  hastened  his  decision.  On 
the  17th  of  August,  he  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  ask  per¬ 
mission  of  presbytery  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge.  In  spite 
of  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  congregation  at  first,  and 
renewed  opposition  by  members  of  the  presbytery,  especially  on 
the  part  of  Dr.  McDowell  of  Elizabethtown,  presbytery  dis¬ 
solved  the  pastoral  relation,  September  10th.  On  Monday,  the 
22d,  in  the  presence  of  an  assembled  multitude  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion,  many  of  whom  followed  him  for  ten  miles,  before  they  could 
say  farewell,  he  took  his  departure  for  Illinois.  His  parents  rode 
in  their  own  dearborn;  he  and  his  wife,  with  one  child,  in  a  new 
gig;  the  remaining  children  in  a  travelling  carriage,  driven  by  a 
cousin,  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  who  needed  the  trip  for  his 
health.  His  library  and  other  goods  had  gone  before  him,  across 
the  mountains,  in  a  heavy  wagon,  to  Wheeling. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment.  We  who  are  younger  cannot  easily 
conceive  the  social  and  physical  condition  of  our  country  at  that 
early  day,  when  there  were  only  twenty-seven  states,  and  our 
national  population  was  less  than  thirteen  millions.  The  great 
northern  and  southern  mail,  between  Hew  York  and  Philadelphia, 
then  passed  his  father’s  door  three  times  a  week,  in  a  stage,  poorer 
and  less  comfortable  than  a  fish  wagon  in  Hew  Jersey,  to-day. 
While  he  was  at  college,  Fulton  stood  begging  the  legislatures  of 
Hew  York  and  Hew  Jersey,  year  after  year  in  vain,  for  an  appro¬ 
priation  for  a  small  boat  in  which  to  try  his  newly  invented  steam 
engine.  While  he  was  studying  his  profession,  the  whole  country 
laughed  to  scorn  the  projected  great  Horthern  Erie  Canal,  and 
called  it,  in  derision,  Clinton’s  Big  Ditch,  saying  that  the  Czar 
of  Russia  could  not  finish  it  in  a  hundred  years.  During  the  war, 
while  the  British  infested  the  seaboard,  nearly  all  the  commerce 
and  munitions  of  war  between  the  great  cities  of  Hew  York  and 
Philadelphia  had  to  be  transported  by  land,  over  almost  impassa¬ 
ble  roads;  and  the  Hew  Jersey  legislature  could  not  be  per- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  13 

suaded  to  give  Mr.  McCullah  and  a  few  other  far-seeing  men  the 
privilege  of  cutting  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  only  thirty 
miles  long,  until  the  cannon  announced  the  mingling  of  the  waters 
of  the  the  lakes  with  the  brine  of  the  Atlantic.  I  remember  hear¬ 
ing  my  father  say  that  the  farmers  objected,  on  the  ground  that 
the  canal  would  destroy  the  demand  for  horses.  There  were  only 
two  small  railroad  tracks  in  the  country,  in  1828;  one  of  them  at 
Mauch  Chunk,  to  convey  the  anthracite  coal  a  few  miles,  from  the 
mountains  to  the  Lehigh.  The  telegraph  had  not  been  thought  of. 
In  that  day,  the  severing  of  a  pastoral  relation  was  no  light  mat¬ 
ter;  and  removal  to  the  prairies  a  greater  undertaking  than  a 
voyage  to  China  would  be  now. 

The  journey  occupied  forty  days’  actual  travel,  not  counting 
stoppages.  It  would  have  been  longer,  but  for  the  National  Road, 
now  scarcely  ever  named,  which  it  was  then  thought  had  secured 
certain  immortality  for  Henry  Clay.  At  Wheeling,  he  shipped 
his  gig  and  his  effects  by  river  to  St.  Louis,  lightened  his  carriage, 
and  had  a  spare  horse,  on  which  they  rode  by  turns.  They  passed 
through  Chilicothe,  Ohio,  to  Maysville,  Lexington  and  Frankfort, 
Kentucky,  where  they  visited  near  relatives,  whom  they  had  never 
seen.  They  visited  Ashland,  the  home  of  Clay,  with  patriotic 
delight.  Dr.  Bergen  preached  at  Frankfort,  by  request  of  Mr. 
Edgar,  then  pastor  of  that  church.  In  Indiana,  an  effort  was 
made  to  induce  them  to  tarry,  and  seek  no  farther,  but  without 
avail.  They  crossed  the  Wabash  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  about 
three  o’clock,  and  entered  Ellison  Prairie,  which  was  their  first 
view  of  a  prairie.  The  houses  upon  the  prairie  were  then  some¬ 
times  more  than  twenty  miles  apart.  On  Saturday,  about  eleven 
o’clock,  they  reached  Rock  Spring,  in  St.  Clair  county,  eighteen 
miles  east  of  St.  Louis.  Here  Mr.  Bergen’s  mother  resided,  with 
her  second  husband,  Mr.  Kenner,  who  aided  the  Rev.  John  M. 
Peck  in  his  seminary.  Mr.  Peck,  the  author  of  Peck’s  Gazetteer 
of  Illinois,  was  the  leading  Baptist  preacher  in  the  state.  He 
was  as  active  and  as  much  at  home  in  public  and  political  life  as  in 
the  pulpit,  and  in  both  equally  effective,  so  that  many  seeing  him 
in  the  pulpit  wished  him  never  out  of  it,  and  seeing  him  out  of  it 
wished  him  never  in  it.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1816.  He  was 
an  untiring  friend  of  education,  and  a  vigorous  opponent  of  negro 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

slavery.  The  seminary  building,  as  Mr.  Bergen  saw  it,  was  a 
small,  frame  building,  covered  with  clap-boards,  unfurnished,  and 
served  for  a  school,  a  church  and  a  seminary,  whence  preachers 
of  the  gospel  were  to  emanate.  In  this  house  he  preached  twice, 
the  Sabbath  after  his  arrival,  using  notes,  which  led  to  a  long  and 
friendly  discussion,  in  which  Mr.  Peck  told  him  that  “  everbody 
in  the  west  shoots  flying.”  At  Pock  Spring  he  found  a  letter 
from  the  Pev.  Mr.  Ellis,  urging  him  not  to  delay  around  St.  Louis, 
but  to  come  immediately  north  to  Sangamon.  On  Monday,  Mr. 
Bergen  and  his  family  called  on  Gov.  Edwards,  at  Belleville,  and 
found  the  household  in  mourning  for  his  son-in-law,  Hon.  Daniel 
P.  Cook,  the  first  attorney  general  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  and 
afterward  its  only  member  in  the  national  congress.  Mr.  Bergen 
preached  that  night  in  Belleville,  in  a  private  house.  On  Tues¬ 
day,  he  drove  into  St.  Louis,  a  dirty,  dilapidated  old  French  town, 
of  bad  repute,  with  a  population  of  seventeen  hundred  inhabitants. 
By  Saturday  night,  he  reached  Jacksonville,  where  half  a  dozen 
log  houses  and  a  log  school-house  constituted  the  entire  village. 
There  he  found  Mr.  Ellis  expecting  him,  and  received  a  hearty 
welcome.  “  When  I  received  your  letter,”  he  said,  “  it  was  the 
first  ray  of  light  which  had  dawned  on  me  for  the  two  years 
I  have  been  laboring  almost  alone  in  this  region  of  moral  desola¬ 
tion.  Come  in,  my  brother,  you  and  yours,  and  God  bless  you, 
and  make  you  a  blessing.” 

This  Mr.  Ellis  was  one  of  seven  Presbyterian  ministers,  five 
of  whom  were  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  state,  who  with  Mr. 
Bergen  were  organized  into  a  presbytery  the  following  spring. 
He  originally  preached  in  Kaskaskia,  but  removed  to  Jacksonville 
in  the  spring  of  1828.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Michigan, 
where  he  died,  in  1855. 

On  Monday,  Mr.  Bergen  parted  with  his  family,  they  to  accom¬ 
pany  his  parents  home,  twelve  miles  north  of  Jersey  Prairie;  he, 
to  Springfield,  where  he- was  hospitably  received  by  Major  lies, 
then  recently  married,  and  one  of  the  four  original  proprietors  of 
the  town,  of  whom  he  is  the  only  survivor.  The  town,  when 
Mr.  Bergen  came  to  it,  numbered  about  two  hundred  inhabitants, 
and  thirty-five  log  houses,  with  a  few  frame  dwellings,  not  more 
than  four  or  five,  painted  in  front  only.  The  school  house  was  a 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  15 

small  frame  building,  with  broken  door,  broken  windows,  broken 
benches — a  high  seat  in  one  end — a  floor  almost  as  dirty  as  a  pig- 
stye — the  whole  elevated  on  blocks,  as  if  to  give  free  room  for 
the  hogs  to  root  under  the  floor — standing  on  the  east  side  of  the 
public  square.  A  Presbyterian  church  had  been  oiganized  here, 
January  30th,  1828,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis,  of  nineteen  members, 
who  were  all  the  Presbyterians  known  to  Jive  within  a  circle  of 
twenty  miles  around  the  town.  Five  of  them,  all  women,  lived 
in  the  town.  I  shall  touch  a  tender  chord  in  the  hearts  of  some 
present  to-day  by  naming  them :  Mrs.  Elizabeth  F.  Smith,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Moore,  Mrs.  Nancy  R.  Humphries,  Mrs.  Ann  lies  and 
Mrs.  Olive  Slater.  The  original  elders — John  Moore,  Samuel  Reid, 
Isaiah  Stillman  and  John  N.  Moore,  lived  in  the  country,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  from  three  to  twenty  miles,  in  different  directions. 
Eleven  other  members  were  received  during  the  spring  and  sum¬ 
mer.  The  organization  was  made  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Smith,  a  daughter  of  Col.  John  Nash,  of  Prince  Edward  county, 
Virginia,  and  widow  of  the  Rev.  John  Blair  Smith,  D.  I).,  who 
was  made  president  of  Hampton  Sidney  college,  when  his 
brother,  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  resigned  that  position  to  be¬ 
come  the  succesor  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  in  the  presidency  of 
Princeton  college.  Mr.  Bergen  had  known  her  at  Princeton. 
She  came  to  the  west  with  her  son-in-law,  Dr.  Todd,  and  after 
remaining  flve  years  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  removed  to  Edwardsville, 
in  1817,  where  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings  organized  the  church 
of  Edwardsville,  in  her  house.  She  wrote  a  letter,  which  was 
laid  before  the  general  assembly,  and  in  consequence,  two  minis¬ 
ters,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Low,  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev,  Mr.  Graham, 
of  Virginia,  were  sent  out,  in  1820.  When  Mr.  Bergen  arrived, 
she  was  absent  in  New  Orleans.  On  the  afternoon  of  his  arrival 
he  called  to  see  the  other  flve  female  members  living  in  town, 
who  were  both  glad  and  sorry  to  see  him.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Howe, 
from  New  England,  with  his  wife,  a  man  utterly  unadapted  to 
the  west,  had  spent  part  of  a  year  with  them,  and  had  gone  back, 
after  spending  all  that  he  brought  with  him  except  enough  to 
take  him  away.  The  last  place  where  he  called  was  at  Mrs. 
Slater’s,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Jayne.  It  was  Dr.  Jayne  who  helped 
him  the  next  morning  to  get  one  of  the  six  frame  houses  of  the 


16  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

town,  raised  up  from  the  ground  on  posts ;  for,  said  the  Doctor, 
“  I  love  that  man,  because  he  loves  his  family  so  much.” 

Two  weeks  later,  after  a  ht  of  sickness  at  Jersey  Prairie,  followed 
by  the  sickness,  first  of  one  of  his  children  and  then  of  his  wife, 
he  took  up  his  abode  in  his  new  home.  His  cousin  visited  him 
in  December,  and  on  opening  the  door,  lifted  up  both  hands,  ex¬ 
claiming,  “  Why,  my  cousin !”  as  he  saw  boxes  in  the  room 
where  the  family  lived  and  slept  and  cooked,  filled  up  with  har¬ 
ness,  and  two  great  dressed  hogs  which  had  been  bought  and 
given  them,  lying  on  another  box,  with  their  mouths  wide  open, 
with  a  great  cob  in  them.  Said  Mr.  Bergen,  in  his  cheerful  way, 
“Come  in,  come  in,  cousin!  Hever  mind  it!”  It  was  the  way 
of  the  country. 

Mr.  Bergen  called  on  every  family  in  the  town,  whether  mem¬ 
bers  of  any  church  or  not.  He  announced  from  the  pulpit  that  he 
had  come  to  live,  labor  and  die  among  this  people .  On  the  second 
Sabbath  in  December,  notice  having  previously  been  given  through 
the  county,  he  administered  the  communion ;  and  at  the  close  of 
the  service,  announced  that  he  had  come  with  his  family  to  seek 
a  home  here — not  to  make  an  experiment,  but  to  plant  with  their 
planting  and  to  grow  with  their  growth.  He  thought  they  ought 
to  do  one  thing  without  delay.  u Let  us  rise  up  and  build  a 
house  for  God!”  He  invited  all  who  were  disposed  to  do  so,  to 
meet  the  next  evening  in  the  school  house,  to  deliberate  and  con¬ 
clude  upon  it.  The  meeting  was  held,  and  a  building  committee 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  John  Todd,  Gershom  Jayne,  Wash¬ 
ington  lies,  David  Taylor,  John  Moffitt,  Samuel  Reed  and  Elijah 
Slater.  In  a  few  days  over  six  hundred  dollars  was  subscribed — 
a  more  liberal  act  for  the  times  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
would  be  to-day.  Mr.  Bergen  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  Mis¬ 
sions;  his  appeal  was  published  in  the  Home  Missionary ,  and 
he  received  two  hundred  dollars  as  the  response.  He  and  Dr. 
Jayne  then  “  scoured  the  town,”  secured  a  subscription  of 
twelve  hundred  dollars  in  all,  and  it  was  decided  to  build  of 
brick.  Thomas  Brooker,  a  brickmaker  and  stone  mason  was 
sent  for  from  Belleville  to  do  the  work. 

During  that  winter,  Mr.  Bergen  visited  Yandalia,  and  preached 
before  the  general  assembly  from  the  text,  “  Of  the  increase  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  17 

his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end.”  There  he  met 
Gov.  Edwards;  Col.  Mather,  afterward  president  of  the  state 
bank;  Peter  Cartwright,  the  Methodist  pioneer;  and  George 
Fauquier,  Esq.,  secretary  of  state,  who  offered  him  twenty  acres 
adjoining  the  town  plat  on  the  southwest,  including  the  site  of 
the  new  state  house,  for  seventy-live  dollars,  if  he  would  build 
on  it  and  live  there.  The  offer  was  declined,  on  account  of  his 
unwillingness  to  live  so  far  from  his  people — out  of  town,  sepa¬ 
rated  from  it  by  a  wide  miry  ravine,  in  a  thicket  of  briars  and 
hazel  bushes. 

On  his  return  from  Yandalia,  in  January,  he  went  with  Dr. 
Todd  to  the  Moore  neighborhood,  where  the  North  Sangamon 
church  now  is,  twenty  miles  north  of  Springfield,  and  greatly 
enjoyed  the  expedition.  John  Moore,  the  patriarch  of  the  Moore 
family,  was  a  Virginian  by  birth,  but  emigrated  in  early  life  to 
Kentucky,  while  the  Indians  were  still  a  terror  to  white  settlers; 
•  where  he  planted  Presbyterianism  in  the  Green  Piver  country. 
He  passed  through  the  exciting  revival  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  taking  a  warm  and  active  part  in  it,  but  consistently 
opposing  the  extravagances  by  which  it  was  marked.  His  won¬ 
derful  knowledge  of  the  deep  things  of  God  began  with  the  study 
of  an  old,  torn,  coverless  book  which  he  found  in  the  garret  of  his 
father’s  house — “Law-Death  and  Gospel-Life” — probably  by 
Dr.  Bellamy,  which  he  read  and  re-read  until  its  thoughts  were 
inwrought  into  the  texture  of  his  soul.  He  was  Mr.  Bergen’s 
trusted  friend  and  companion  on  many  a  preaching  tour.  Once 
they  rode  together  during  the  summer  before  the  deep  snow,  oue 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  north,  to  organize  a  church  of  twenty- 
six  members,  at  Union  Grove,  in  what  is  now  LaSalle  county. 
On  their  way  home,  they  stopped  at  Holland’s  Grove,  where  now 
stands  the  large  and  pleasant  town  of  Washington,  east  of  Peoria. 
Nearly  all  the  settlers  within  seven  miles  were  present  at  a 
preaching  service,  for  which  they  had  made  an  appointment  on 
their  way  up.  That  day  a  band  of  Pottawattomies  arived — poor 
and  filthy,  their  hunting  shirts  ragged,  their  blankets  short  and 
full  of  holes,  their  children  almost  naked — and  by  invitation 
attended  worship,  filing  in  one  by  one,  Indian  fashion,  and  taking 
their  seats  on  the  floor  at  Mr.  Bergen’s  left  hand,  where  they 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

gave  an  occasional  grunt  during  the  singing.  At  the  close  they 
tiled  out  in  the  same  order,  at  a  signal  from  their  leader . ' 

When  Mr.  Bergen  came  to  Illinois,  the  seven  ministers  and 
twenty-one  churches  in  the  state  were  connected  with  the  synod 
of  Indiana,  which  embraced  all  the  territory  in  the  northwest, 
west  of  Ohio.  The  presbytery  of  Missouri  embraced  our  few 
ministers  and  churches  on  the  Mississippi,  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio.  The  synod  of  Indiana,  in  October,  before  his  arrival, 
divided  the  presbytery  of  Missouri,  and  formed  the  presbytery 
of  Illinois,  which  they  named  Centre  presbytery.  Mr.  Ber¬ 
gen  was  present  at  its  first  meeting,  in  Jacksonville,  in  March, 
1829.  At  that  meeting,  Mr.  C.  L.  Watson  and  Mr.  Thomas  Lip- 
pincott,  the  father  of  our  present  auditor  of  public  accounts, 
were  added  to  our  ministry.  Mr.  Lippincott  was  the  son  of  a 
Quaker  in  New  Jersey,  but  became  one  of  the  first  elders  of  the 
Jacksonville  church,  where  he  edited  for  a  while  a  newspaper 
published  at  that  place,  which  warmly  espoused  the  side  of  free¬ 
dom  in  the  contest  between  the  pro-slavery  and  anti-slavery 
parties,  prior  to  the  vote  in  1824  on  the  question  of  a  convention 
to  amend  the  constitution.  Mr.  Bergen’s  first  act  as  a  presbyter 
was  to  compose  a  difficulty  which  had  arisen  between  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ellis  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Birch,  at  Jacksonville,  as  to  which 
had  the  prior  claim  to  minister  to  the  church  there.  At  this,  the 
first  meeting  of  the  presbytery,  incipient  measures  were  also 
taken  to  found  a  college  in  Illinois,*  for  whose  location  there  was 
a  contest  between  Springfield  and  Jacksonville,  which  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  Illinois  college  upon  the  site  given  for  that 
purpose  by  Judge  Lockwood. 

During  the  summer  of  1829,  Dr.  Jayne  placed  in  Mr.  Bergen’s 
hands  a  copy  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher’s  six  sermons  on  intemper¬ 
ance,  which  he  read  one  by  one  to  the  people  on  six  successive 
Sabbath  afternoons.  Curiosity  about  drunkenness  in  the  east 
brought  the  people  out.  Mr.  Bergen  prepared  the  constitution 
of  a  temperance  society,  and  after  reading  that  well-known  tract, 
Putnam  and  the  Wolf,  invited  the  congregation  to  sign  the 
pledge.  Eleven  persons  put  down  their  names.  In  a  short  time 
there  were  more  than  fifteen  hundred  signers  in  the  county. 

*1  am  informed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sturtevant,  President  of  Illinois  college,  that  this 
statement,  taken  from  Dr.  Bergen’s  published  recollections,  is  not  strictly  accurate. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  19 

This  was  the  first  temperance  association  in  central  Illinois,  and 
probably  the  first  in  the  state. 

During  the  summer,  also,  preparations  were  made  for  building, 
by  the  burning  of  brick  and  the  accumulation  of  material,  At 
the  outset,  our  Methodist  brethren  had  smiled  at  the  undertaking, 
supposing  it  chimerical.  When  they  saw  that  it  was  made  in 
earnest,  they  also  circulated  a  subscription  paper,  and  deter¬ 
mined  to  build,  but  not  with  brick.  While  the  brick  for  our 
church  was  making,  in  1829,  they  might  have  put  up  their  house 
and  gained  a  year’s  time ;  but  for  some  unexplained  reason  they 
did  not.  Mr.  Bergen  always  believed  that  they  were  waiting  to 
see  whether  we  would  fail  at  last,  and  so  they  would  obtain  pos¬ 
session  of  a  better  house  than  their  own  was  designed  to  be.  In 
the  summer  of  1830  both  houses  went  up  at  the  same  time, 
neither  of  them  suffering  from  the  rivalry.  The  brick  church 
was  finished  first,  and  the  Methodists  invited  to  use  it  until  the 
completion  of  their  own.  This  was  the  first  brick  church  in  Illi¬ 
nois — there  were  two  stone  churches,  both  Homan  Catholic,  near 
St.  Louis — and  it  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  German 
Lutheran  church,  on  Third  street,  between  Washington  and 
Adams.  It  was  thirty  by  forty-five  feet.  The  corner  stone  was 
laid  August  15th,  1829,  and  it  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of 
the  Triune  God  on  the  third  sabbath  of  November,  1830.  It 
had  circle-headed  windows,  an  arched  ceiling,  a  pulpit  with  bal¬ 
ustrade,  black  walnut  seats,  and  a  large  flat  stone  for  a  platform 
at  the  door. 

Upon  its  completion,  Mr.  Bergen  delivered  in  it  during  the 
winter  a  course  of  learned  lectures  upon  church  history,  in  which 
he  aimed  to  refute  a  popular  prejudice  of  the  day,  which  attrib¬ 
uted  to  the  Presbyterian  church  a  purpose  to  unite  church  and 
state.  Allow  me  to  call  your  attention  again  to  the  deep  impres¬ 
sion  made  upon  his  mind  in  early  life,  that  the  church  and  its 
officers  have  nothing  to  do  with  parties  in  the  state.  The  warn¬ 
ing  of  the  lame  Dr,  Armstrong,  uttered  in  the  Christian  conven¬ 
tion  in  New  Jersey,  called  to  consider  what  steps  should  be 
taken  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  against  Sunday  mails 
and  Sunday  traveling,  sank  into  his  heart.  “My  brethren  in  the 
ministry,”  said  the  old  man,  with  outstretched  arm  and  finger, 


20  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

“if  ever  the  day  of  peril  comes  to  the  liberties  and  union  of  our 
God-saved  nation,  it  will  be  when  the  professed  ministers  of 
Jesus  Christ  leave  their  proper  work  of  preaching  Christ  and  his 
cross,  and  mingle  in  party  politics,  in  works  of  strife,  and  set 
themselves  to  reform  men  by  force  or  physical  weapons.”  Mr. 
Bergen’s  training  rendered  the  course  of  John  M.  Feck,  and 
especially  Peter  Cartwright,  exceedingly  distateful  to  him.  In 
closing  his  series  of  lectures,  he  gave  voice  to  his  disapproval  of 
ministers  of  the  gospel  seeking  political  offices,  and  “going  around 
the  country  mounting  political  stumps  and  riding  political  hob¬ 
bies”  These  words  created  a  prodigious  sensation .  Cartwright 
was  then  a  candidate  for  the  legislature;  so  was  Mr.  John  T. 
Stuart;  both  of  them  in  the  same  party — Mr.  Stuart  by  regular 
nomination,  Mr.  Cartwright  as  a  volunteer.  Mr.  Bergen,  how¬ 
ever,  was  not  aware  of  the  fact.  An  attack  upon  the  lecturer 
appeared  in  the  little  sheet,  the  only  newspaper  which  Spring- 
held  or  northern  Illinois  could  boast.  The  writer  charged  that 
these  lectures  against  a  union  of  church  and  state  were  only  a 
ruse  de  guerre,  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people;  that  these  edu¬ 
cated  ministers  had  come  from  the  east  to  throw  western  preachers 
in  the  shade;  that  they  were  building  a  college  at  Jacksonville  to 
raise  a  heap  of  them  to  sprinkle  the  country  all  over;  and  that  the 
gentleman  used  the  withering  influence  of  his  eloquence  to  blast 
the  prospects  of  Cartwright.  The  consequence  was  a  warmly 
contested  canvass,  the  election  of  Mr.  Stuart,  and  great  benefit 
both  to  Mr.  Bergen  and  the  Illinois  college. 

This  was  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  which  began  to  fall  on 
Christmas  eve,  and  continued  to  deepen  for  nine  weeks,  until  it 
averaged  four  or  five  feet  in  depth,  bringing  with  it  great  merri¬ 
ment  and  great  suffering. 

I  have  dwelt  perhaps  too  much  at  length  upon  the  memory  of 
these  ancient  times,  to  bring  out  in  vivid  colors  the  contrast  be¬ 
tween  the  past  and  the  present.  The  time  allotted  to  this  dis¬ 
course  is  fast  slipping  away,  and  I  must  be  more  brief  during  the 
remainder  of  this  narrative. 

The  indications  of  growth  were  such  as  to  induce  Centre  pres¬ 
bytery  in  less  than  two  years  from  its  organization,  to  request 
the  synod  of  Indiana  to  take  measures  to  have  a  synod  of  Illi- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  21 

nois  formed.  The  assembly  of  1831  divided  Centre  presbytery 
into  three  presbyteries,  called  Illinois,  Kaskaskia  and  Sangamon, 
after  its  three  internal  rivers,  and  ordered  these  three,  with  the 
synod  of  Missouri,  to  meet  and  organize  the  new  synod.  Synod 
met  in  Hillsboro,  Sept.  16th,  1831,  and  Mr.  Bergen  was  chosen 
moderator.  Mr.  John  Tillson,  an  elder  in  the  church  and  owner 
of  a  large,  new,  two-story  double  brick  dwelling  house,  enter¬ 
tained  twenty-five  members  of  synod,  some  of  them  with  their 
wives.  The  entire  attendance  was  thirty-four  ministers  and 
elders. 

The  first  settlers  of  Illinois  organized  no  Congregational 
churches.  Both  ministers  and  members  of  the  Congregational 
body  united  with  presbytery,  on  their  arrival  here,  under  what 
was  known  as  the  “Plan  of  Union.”  There  were,  therefore, 
three  elements  of  disturbance  in  the  church:  First,  political  dif¬ 
ferences,  mostly  relating  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  vexed  ques¬ 
tion  of  African  slavery;  second,  doctrinal  differences,  whose  na¬ 
ture  I  hinted  at  a  while  ago;  third,  different  views  of  church 
polity,  one  party  favoring  voluntary  association  for  missionary 
and  educational  ends — the  other  preferring  formal  ecclesiastical 
action.  Out  of  these  three  elements  grew  the  division  of  the 
church  in  1837-8.  In  all  this  contest,  the  newly  constituted  synod 
had  to  bear  its  share,  and  Mr.  Bergen  was  a  prominent  actor  in 
it  all.  At  the  second  session  of  synod,  in  Yandalia,  he  was  sent 
north  to  visit  several  Congregational  brethren,  who  had  failed  to 
connect  themselves  with  presbytery,  and  persuade  them  to  do  so — 
a  mission  in  which  he  was  successful.  Chicago  was  then  a 
murky  swamp.  At  the  third  session  of  synod,  in  Jacksonville,  a 
tedious  litigation  began,  connected  with  a  minister  of  combative 
temperament,  who  resided  near  Illinois  college,  and  between 
whom  and  some  of  its  professors  a  dispute  sprang  up,  concern¬ 
ing  which  I  need  not  say  more.  This  year  also  a  movement  was 
set  on  foot  for  revolutionizing  some  of  the  churches  and  turn¬ 
ing  them  over  to  Congregationalism.  At  the  fourth  session  of 
synod,  in  Springfield,  Edward  Beecher,  moderator,  the  anti¬ 
slavery  agitation  in  the  church  commenced,  which  culminated 
in  1837,  the  year  of  that  fatal  tragedy  at  Alton.  In  1838,  the 
synod  divided ;  the  majority  went  with  the  new  school  assembly; 


22  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

Mr.  Bergen,  with  the  minority,  adhered  to  the  old,  and  he  in  his 
capacity  as  stated  clerk,  retained  the  possession  of  the  synodical 
record. 

During  this  period,  in  spite  of  these  difficulties  the  church  grew 
and  increased.  During  these  six  years,  Mr.  Bergen  himself  or¬ 
ganized  six  churches;  one  at  North  Sangamon,  in  1832;  one  at 
Sugar  Creek  in  1833;  in  the  same  year,  one  at  Lick  Creek;  one 
at  Farmington,  in  1834;  and  in  1835,  two — one  at  Irish  Grove, 
and  the  second  church  of  Springfield.  These  were  all  on  the 
ground  originally  occupied  by  the  church  of  Sangamon.  The 
number  of  presbyteries  also  was  doubled. 

The  year  1834  was  marked  by  a  revival — the  first  in  this  city. 
More  than  half  the  members  and  elders  of  the  church  had  been 
organized  into  new  churches.  But  two  elders  were  left,  of  whom 
Mr.  Elijah  Slater  was  one.  A  weekly  prayer-meeting  for  the 
descent  of  the  spirit  of  God  had  been  maintained  all  winter,  but 
'  it  was  not  until  May  that  these  prayers  were  visibly  and  glori¬ 
ously  answered.  The  Bev.  Messrs.  Hale  and  Baldwin  had  started 
across  the  Illinois  river  on  a  preaching  tour,  but  were  detained 
by  high  water,  and  turned  back.  They  called  at  Mr.  Bergen’s 
house  one  afternoon  and  asked  him,  ‘‘Brother,  is  there  any  work 
for  us  to  do  here?”  He  sent  out  notice  through  the  town,  and  a 
protracted  meeting  commenced  that  afternoon,  at  5  o’clock.  On 
the  third  night,  there  were  more  than  fifty  who  remained  as  in¬ 
quirers  after  the  benediction.  At  the  close  of  two  weeks,  some 
thirty  had  professed  conversion,  and  the  church  was  greatly  re¬ 
vived. 

In  June  after  the  revival,  the  trip  to  Chicago  already  men¬ 
tioned  took  place.  On  Mr.  Bergen’s  return,  a  copy  of  certain 
resolutions  was  handed  to  him,  thanking  him  for  his  past  services, 
and  requesting  him  to  settle  over  the  church  as  pastor.  This  he 
was  unwilling  to  do  just  yet,  on  account  of  his  interest  in  his 
missionary  work.  He  promised  to  take  it  into  consideration. 
Meanwhile  some  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  a  few  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  led  to  a  small  meeting  of  men  only,  one  Wednesday  night, 
the  February  following,  at  which  it  was  decided  to  inform  him 
that  they  thought  they  had  better  have  another  minister.  He 
asked  that  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  might  be  called,  on  Sat- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  23 

urday  night,  to  ascertain  their  mind,  and  wrote  out  his  resigna 
tion,  but  the  congregation  with  only  nine  dissenting  votes  solic¬ 
ited  a  continuance  of  his  ministerial  services.  In  this  move 
ment  the  second  church  originated.  On  the  24th  of  February, 
a  paper  signed  by  eighteen  persons  was  transmitted  to  the  ses¬ 
sion,  giving  notice  of  an  appeal  to  presbytery;  but  before  the 
presbytery  met,  the  minority  consented  to  form  a  new  organi¬ 
zation.  Thirty  persons  were  dismissed  for  this  purpose;  Mr. 
Bergen  officiated;  and  his  action  was  subsequently  confirmed. 

The  period  between  the  organization  of  the  second  church  and 
the  division  in  1837-8  was  marked  by  the  acceptance  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Bergen  of  a  call  to  the  pastoral  office,  at  a  salary  of  $400, 
increased  in  1837  to  $600.  He  was  installed  Nov.  25th,  1835. 
There  were  some  changes  in  the  eldership.  Mr.  James  L.  Lamb 
and  Mr.  Joseph  Torrey  were  added  to  the  session.  The  vener¬ 
ated  elder  Slater  was  called  home.  Col.  Mather,  from  Yandalia- 
united  with  the  congregation — -a  noble  hearted  man — and  pro¬ 
posed  the  erection  of  a  new  church  and  the  gift  of  the  old  one  to 
the  colony.  Immigration  was  great,  money  abundant,  and  the 
people  over-confident.  The  leading  men  of  the  congregation  de¬ 
termined  to  give  themselves  to  business  that  year,  1836,  and  build 
on  a  large  scale  the  year  following.  The  second  church  decided 
to  build  immediately.  Before  they  completed  their  building  the 
crash  came — and  our  building  was  necessarily  postponed,  which 
gave  them  a  fine  chance  to  grow. 

The  schism  of  1837-8,  combined  with  the  influence  of  hard 
times,  which  now  set  in  for  several  years,  exerted  a  most  disas¬ 
trous  effect  upon  Presbyterianism  in  this  state.  The  new  school 
had  the  American  Home  Society  to  back  its  missionaries,  and 
guarantee  them  $400  a  year.  The  old  school  Board  of  Domes¬ 
tic  Missions  had  so  many  feeble  churches  on  its  hands,  that  it 
could  not  give  more  than  $100  or  at  the  outside  $200  a  year  to 
sustain  one  missionary.  The  old  school  was  seriously  crippled. 
Its  strength  lay  chiefly  in  Sangamon  and  McDonough  counties. 
The  college  at  Jacksonville  fell  to  the  New  School  and  Congre¬ 
gational  party.  The  old  school  temporarily  adopted  McDonough 
college  at  Macomb ;  but  although  it  was  the  ambition  of  Dr.  Ber- 


24  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

gen’s  life  to  see  an  old  school  Presbyterian  college  in  this  state, 
he  died  without  the  sight. 

In  1840,  talk  of  building  a  church  was  renewed.  A  revival  of 
religion,  under  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  James  Gallagher,  in 
the  new  second  church,  was  followed  by  a  revival  in  the  first,  in 
which  Rev.  Mr.  Galt  and  Rev.  Mr.  Little  assisted  Mr.  Bergen. 
At  the  close  of  this  meeting,  the  necessity  for  a  a  new  house  was 
apparant  to  every  one,  and  at  a  congregational  meeting  a  resolu¬ 
tion  to  that  effect  was  adopted.  The  ladies  subscribed  $1000; 
$15,000  was  subscribed  in  all;  and  on  the  23d  of  May,  1842,  the 
corner  stone  was  laid  of  the  building  which  we  left  to  come  hither. 
Said  Mr.  Bergen  upon  that  occasion,  “The  almighty  architect 
who  planted  the  foot  of  his  compass  in  the  centre  of  illimitable 
space — laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth — spanned  and  spread  the 
arc  of  heaven — said  let  there  be  light  and  there  was  light — also 
said,  “On  this  rock,”  which  is  Christ,  “I  build  my  church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it!”  Into  the  copper  box 
sealed  up  within  the  stone  he  cast  a  damask  rose,  as  an  emblem 
of  immortality.  At  the  dedication,  November  9th,  1843,  he 
preached  his  famous  “banner  sermon.”  Unfortunately,  the 
church  was  not  out  of  debt  at  the  time  of  its  dedication,  and  he 
afterwards  put  it  upon  record  that  he  would  not  officiate  again 
under  like  circumstances. 

In  the  new  house,  on  Sabbath  evenings,  he  delivered  a  series 
of  discourses  upon  prophecy,  in  opposition  to  the  prevalent  expec¬ 
tation,  among  many,  of  the  instant  bodily  appearance  of  the  son 
of  God  to  reign  on  earth.  Some  prepared  their  ascension  robes, 
some  were  excited  to  the  point  of  insanity.  The  argument  in 
these  sermons  was,  that  as  many  of  the  prophecies  are  unfulfilled 
the  end  is  not  yet.  The  house  was  greatly  crowded  during  their 
delivery.  *  1 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  1847,  Mr.  Bergen  preached  a  sermon 
upon  the  Mexican  war,  which  excited  some  opposition  to  him. 
In  the  winter,  however,  after  a  visit  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Calhoun, 
of  the  Bey  root  Mission,  there  ensued  a  revival  of  religion,  which 
was  deepened  and  intensified  by  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  R. 
Y.  Dodge,  in  March . 

Mr.  Bergen  was  now  nearly  sixty  years  of  age.  He  had  been 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  25 

# 

preaching  to  this  people  for  twenty  years .  Mr.  Dodge’s  preach¬ 
ing  had  given  great  acceptance,  and  it  was  felt  by  many  that  it 
would  be  well  to  call  Mr.  Dodge  to  be  co-pastor  with  Mr.  Ber¬ 
gen.  This  proposition  so  wrought  upon  his  mind  as  to  lead  him 
to  resign  his  pastoral  charge.  Without  entering  into  the  painful 
memories  of  that  time,  I  may  say  that  Mr.  Bergen's  diary 
through  all  this  troubled  season  evinces  no  other  spirit  or  pur¬ 
pose  than  that  of  a  man  perplexed,  overwhelmed,  but  anxious 
only  to  know  the  will  of  God  and  to  do  it.  The  majority  of  the 
church  sustained  him.  After  the  resignation,  twice  refused  by 
the  presbytery,  had  been  renewed  for  the  third  time,  it  was  ac¬ 
cepted  and  the  pastoral  relation  dissolved,  on  the  27th  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  1848.  The  presbytery  at  the  same  time  entered  upon 
its  minutes  a  resolution  declaring  that  they  considered  Brother 
Bergen,  during  the  long  period  which  that  relation  had  existed, 
to  have  held  a  reputation  and  then  to  hold  a  reputation  for  piety, 
ability,  and  excellence  of  character,  which  seldom  attaches  to  any 
pastor. 

The  dissensions  in  the  church  consequent  upon  this  event  led 
to  the  organization  of  the  Third  church,  in  February,  1819,  and 
the  installation  of  Mr.  Dodge  as  their  pastor,  on  the  2d  day  of 
August.  This  position  he  tilled  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  congre¬ 
gation  for  eight  years. 

With  Mr.  Bergen’s  resignation,  now  more  than  twenty-three 
years  past,  his  active  life  ceased.  From  this  time  he  devoted 
himself  to  writing  for  the  press  and  to  missionary  effort  among 
feeble  churches,  here  and  there.  During  the  twenty  years  of  his 
life  in  Illinois,  about  five  hundred  members  had  been  received 
into  the  church  in  Springfield,  and  six  churches  organized  in  the 
county.  He  had  expended  during  his  ministry  here  more  than 
four  thousand  dollars  of  his  private  property.  Many  wondered 
whether  he  would  not  live  to  regret  his  resignation;  but  he  never 
did. 

During  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  he  organized  a  number  of 
additional  churches.  Several  times  he  was  chosen  commissioner 
to  the  General  Assembly,  where,  in  1801,  the  year  of  the  war,  he 
voted  for  what  are  known  as  the  Spring  resolutions. 

His  wife  died  in  October,  1853.  In  November,  1857,  he  mar- 
—4 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE. 

ried  again,  and  his  widow  is  present  with  ns  to  day  as  a  mourner. 
In  1854,  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Centre  college,  at  Danville,  Kentucky.  He  was  for  many 
years  a  director  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest, 
at  Chicago.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  reunion  movement 
in  the  church  and  attended  the  first  preliminary  meeting  of  the 
two  branches  held  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  at  the  second  Pres¬ 
byterian  church,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  in  April,  1865.  He  was 
again  made  moderator  of  the  reunited  synod  ot  Central  Illinois, 
in  July,  1870,  at  its  first  meeting  in  the  first  Presbyterian  church, 
Bloomington. 

He  received  the  first  serious  warning  of  his  end  in  May,  1870, 
at  Auburn,  where  he  preached  from  the  text,  “  In  my  father’s 
house  are  many  mansions;  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told 
you.”  After  the  sermon,  he  was  attacked  by  paralysis,  and  sup¬ 
posing  that  he  would  never  recover  from  the  attack,  or  at  least 
that  he  would  never  be  able  to  enter  the  pulpit  again,  he  remarked 
that  had  he  known  it,  he  would  have  delivered  the  same  sermon. 
He  did  recover,  however,  and  preached  three  times  afterwards ; 
the  last  time,  on  the  occasion  of  leaving  our  former  house  of  wor¬ 
ship,  near  the  Chicago  &  Alton  depot,  from  the  words,  “  Lo,  I 
come ;  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me  to  do  thy  will, 
O  God.”  Before  his  death  he  attended  the  services  of  the  third 
Presbyterian  church  one  Sabbath  morning  and  was  much  grati¬ 
fied  to  see  the  attendance  and  interest  of  the  congregation.  On 
last  Sabbath,  the  Sabbath  before  his  death,  he  attended  church 
twice — in  the  morning  here,  at  night  he  went  to  hear  Mr.  Shaw. 
That  night,  he  talked  long  about  the  question  before  the  congre¬ 
gation,  of  free  or  rented  pews,  and  said  that  although  he  himself 
preferred  the  system  of  rentals,  he  deprecated  strife  and  desired 
to  prevent  the  re-opening  of  the  subject,  if  possible.  With  this 
feeling  he  designed  to  call  the  following  day  on  the  pastor  and 
some  of  the  leading  members.  After  retiring,  he  renewed  the 
conversation,  with  his  wife,  and  was  led  to. review  the  whole  his¬ 
tory  of  his  life,  recognizing  the  hand  of  divine  providence  at 
every  step,  and  praising  God  for  his  trials  as  well  as  for  his 
triumphs.  This  outburst  lasted  until  after  midnight.  On  Mon¬ 
day  he  rose,  breakfasted,  said  that  he  felt  well,  and  that  he  would 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  27 

,  » 

attend  the  congregational  meeting,  he  thought,  that  night.  At 
nine  o’clock  the  arrow  of  death  struck  him.  In  an  instant,  he 
lost  control  of  his  right  side  and  the  ability  to  speak  or  to  swallow. 
He  was  heard  to  say  in  an  indistinct  voice,  “Great  grace !  ”  and 
afterward,  “Blessed!”  showing  that  he  understood  the  nature  of 
the  attack  and  wished  to  express  his  acquiescence.  By  signs 
and  pressure  of  the  hand  and  smiling  glances  of  the  eye,  he  en¬ 
deavored  to  convey  his  meaning.  When  I  repeated  to  him  the 
verse, 

'‘Sweet  to  lie  passive  in  thy  hands, 

And  know  no  will  but  thine,” 

he  nodded  assent.  He  nodded  also  in  reply  to  a  question,  “  Do 
you  find  God  faithful  to  his  promises?”  When  I  said  to  him, 
later,  “  The  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding,  keep 
your  mind  and  heart,  through  Jesus  Christ,”  he  raised  his  head 
from  the  pillow.  He  clearly  recognized  his  daughter  from  Alton, 
when  she  arrived,  Monday  night,  and  caressed  her  with  his 
left  hand.  After  lingering  in  a  semi-conscious  condition 
with  labored  breath  and  fluttering  pulse  for  two  days  and  part  of 
two  nights,  his  ransomed  spirit  returned  to  God  who  gave  it,  at 
two  o’clock  on  Wednesday  morning.  His  death  was  glorious. 

'  It  is  needless  to  speak  of  Dr.  Bergen’s  spirit  to  those  who  knew 
him.  In  one  word,  it  was  love ,  such  love  as  made  him  willing 
always  and  everywhere  to  sacrifice  himself,  a  love  manifested  in 
the  most  wonderful  charity  for  those  who  differed  in  opinion  from 
himself,  and  in  a  joyousness  through  life  like  that  of  a  child. 

The  question  for  us  as  a  church  is,  shall  his  mantle  of  Christian 
affection  fall  on  us?  Being  dead,  he  yet  speaketh,  and  his  ad¬ 
monition  is  that  of  John  the  apostle,  “  Little  children,  love  one 
another!” 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  FUNERAL  OF 

I\EV.  JOHN  G.  BERGEN,  D.  D, 

IN  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  OF  SPRINGFIELD, 

BY  THE  PASTOR, 

REV.  JAMES  A.  REED. 

JANUARY  17,  1872. 


“Like  as  a  shock  ok  corn  cometh  in  his  season.”— Job  v.  26. 

In  the  presence  of  these  venerable  remains,  dear  friends,  I  feel 
more  like  being  a  mourner  than  a  speaker.  In  some  indefinable 
sense  I  seem  to  rise  as  if  to  minister  at  the  funeral  of  my  own 
father.  Though  our  acquaintance  has  been  comparatively  brief, 
considerably  less  than  three  years,  yet  in  that  short  time  I  learned 
not  only  to  esteem  Dr.  Bergen,  but  to  love  him  almost  as  a  son 
loves  a  father.  Often  have  we  taken  sweet  counsel  together,  and  in 
most  cordial  agreement  and  confiding  sincerity  have  had  our  con¬ 
versation.  Everything  about  the  man;  his  noble,  generous  bear¬ 
ing,  his  unselfish  character,  his  scholarly  attainments,  his  clear 
apprehension  of  Scriptural  truth,  and  above  all  his  cheerful,  win¬ 
ning  piety  that  spoke  out  so,  and  so  beamed  from  his  very  face, 
has  made  an  impression  on  my  mind  that  will  not  soon  be  effaced 
or  forgotten.  I  feel  to-day,  as  we  commit  his  remains  to  the 
grave,  that  I  have  lost  a  friend,  a  companion  and  a  counsellor; 
one  whose  approving  smile  I  shall  miss  here  in  the  sanctuary, 
and  the  grasp  of  whose  friendly  hand  I  shall  feel  no  more. 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE.  29 

While  under  this  feeling  of  personal  bereavement,  I  would 
rather  receive  than  give  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel  in  this 
hour,  yet  even  here  I  can  realize  that  “it  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive;”  more  blessed  to  give  that  consolation  in  sorrow 
which  goes  like  a  soothing  blessedness  to  the  depths  of  the  heart, 
and  sheds  an  oil  of  gladness  through  the  wounded  spirit.  Great 
as  is  the  blessedness  of  having  sympathy  extended  to  us,  there 
may  be  an  equal  and  greater  blessedness  in  extending  it;  in 
weeping  with  them  that  weep,  even  as  Jesus  wept  in  tender 
sympathy  with  the  sisters  of  Lazarus. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Bergen  is,  we  feel,  no  ordinary  bereavement. 
Though  he  has  “  come  to  his  grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock 
of  corn  cometh  in  his  season,”  still  we  are  loath  to  part  with  the 
“  shock  of  corn.”  The  fruit  of  this  handful,  so  early  planted  in  our 
midst,  does  wave  so  like  Lebanon  that  we  could  devoutly  wish  the 
hours  more  slow  that  take  him  from  our  love.  It  is  not  a  bereave¬ 
ment  in  which  we  meet  to  mingle  our  sorrow,  merely  with  a 
weeping  family,  but  one  in  which  our  grief  is  common;  the  grief 
of  a  congregation  that  esteemed  and  loved  him,  and  of  a  com¬ 
munity  in  which  he  was  widely  known,  honored  and  respected. 
For  more  than  forty  years  has  this  good  man  walked  in  your 
midst  as  God’s  servant,  a  living  witness  for  his  truth;  a  bright 
and  a  shining  light.  For  more  than  sixty  years  he  has  been  a 
watchman  on  the  walls  of  Zion,  most  of  that  time  in  this  city. 
He  came  among  you  in  the  prime  of  his  ministerial  life,  when 
you  were  a  very  poor  and  a  very  small  people ;  when  as  yet  the 
foundations  of  better  things  were  scarcely  begun.  He  came  not 

as  the  world’s  pioneer  to  lay  the  foundations  of  mere  temporal 
things,  but  as  God  Almighty’s  pioneer  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
better  things,  even  the  things  that  accompany  salvation.  He 
came  among  you  with  a  commission  to  look  after  the  interests  ot 
God’s  kingdom  in  this  prairie  land.  And  so  faithfully  and  long 
has  he  been  about  his  Master’s  business  here,  that  he  has  been 
known  for  many  years  past  as  the  “Old  Man  of  the  Prairie.”  His 
face  and  name  are  familiar  in  almost  every  nook  and  hamlet  of 
the  surrounding  country.  He  has  organized  churches,  and  told 
the  story  of  Jesus  and  his  love  in  them,  till  this  western  wilder- 


30  FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 

ness  has,  in  a  measure  at  least,  been  made  to  rejoice  and  blos¬ 
som  as  the  rose. 

What  we  are  doing  here  now,  as  a  denomination,  is  in  a  good 
measure  reaping  the  fruits  of  this  good  man’s  labors;  taking  in 
the  harvest  of  his  own  sowing. 

I  have  not  the  time,  nor  is  this  the  occasion  to  enter  upon 
even  a  brief  sketch  of  his  long  and  useful  life.  This  will  be  de¬ 
ferred  to  another  occasion,  and  be  given  by  one  who  has  known 
him  longer,  and  is  more  familiar  with  the  history  of  his  life  and 
labors.  I  am  only  familiar  enough  with  his  history  to  know 
that  in  his  death  we  mourn  no  ordinary  bereavement,  and  exper¬ 
ience  no  common  sorrow. 

Only  a  few  weeks  ago,  he  preached  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Old 
Church,  as  we  were  about  to  leave  it,  that  last  but  logical,  clear 
and  pungent  discourse,  which  he  called  his  farewell  to  the  Old 
Church,  and  possibly  to  us.  Little  did  we  think  as  we  listened 
to  his  strong  clear  voice,  and  his  forcible  presentations  of  the 
tfuth  he  so  loved,  that  “the  silver  cord  would  so  soon  be  loosed, 
and  the  pitcher  broken  at  the  fountain.”  Little  did  we  think  as 
he  sat  in  the  sanctuary  last  Sabbath,  here  in  the  morning,  and  at 
the  Second  Church  in  the  evening,  that  he  would  so  soon  be  here 
cold  in  death. 

But  here  to-day  lies  the  form  that  last  Sabbath  sat  upright  in 
yonder  pew.  Here  are  the  closed  eyes  whose  gaze  I  caught  amid 
the  morning  services,  and  the  silent  lips  that  I  saw  move  to  the 
praises  of  Zion.  They  are  still  now.  “  Asleep  in  Jesus,  blessed 
sleep,”  that  form  will  never  rise  again,  till  it  rises  a  glorious  form, 
fashioned  in  the  likeness  of  its  Redeemer.  That  tongue  that  has 
so  long  told  the  “story  of  the  cross,”  will  speak  not  again  till  it 
moves  to  the  notes  of  the  conqueror’s  song  above  the  skies.  These 
hands  that  have  so  often  broken  unto  you  the  emblematic  bread 
of  life,  will  never  move  again  till  they  move  to  heaven’s  harp 
strings,  and  are  extended  to  meet  us  and  welcome  us  to  our 
Father’s  House.  He  has  left  us,  but  only  like  a  star  that  is  set  to 
shine  on  other  spheres.  Only  like  a  vessel  that  has  sailed  be¬ 
yond  our  vision  here  to  be  hailed  and  welcomed  on  other  shores. 

But  while  we  may  not  suppress  our  grief  at  his  loss,  how  little 
of  melancholy  and  gloom  is  mingled  with  our  sorrow.  How  it 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


31 


helps  to  lift  the  burden  of  grief  from  the  sorrowing  heart,  to  feel 
assuredly  that  “we  mourn  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope.”  The 
death  of  one  who  has  lived  the  life,  enjoyed  the  experience,  and 
given  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Bergen,  can  have  nothing  of  gloom  about 
it.  Taken  suddenly  as  he  was,  so  that  he  scarcely  spoke  afterward, 
appearing  unconscious  for  the  most  part,  what  a  relief  to  know 
that  he  was  fully  prepared,  ready  for  his  departure.  While  we 
mourn  his  loss,  and  feel  sad  that  we  shall  see  his  kind,  benevo¬ 
lent  face  no  more,  yet  how  all  this  is  relieved  by  the  assurance 
we  have  in  his  life  and  experience  that  all  is  well  with  him.  Who 
doubts  that  religion  was  a  reality  with  Dr.  Bergen?  While  he 
made  no  claims  to  human  perfection,  yet  who  that  knows  the  man, 
and  his  manner  of  life ;  his  love  of  the  truth ;  his  faith ;  his  devo¬ 
tion  to  the  Master’s  cause,  and  his  intelligent,  happy,  joyous  ex- 
'  perience,  can  doubt  that  his  anchor  of  hope  was  cast  sure  and 
steadfast  among  the  immutable  things  of  God.  How  little  the 
gloom  and  oppression  of  feeling,  that  hangs  over  the  last  end  of  the 
skeptic  and  unbeliever,  have  to  do  with  this  funeral  scene.  How 
peaceful  the  grave  where  he  sleeps.  How  calm  and  undisturbed 
his  repose.  With  what  cheerful  resignation  we  can  give  him  up, 
knowing  his  well  founded  hope,  his  established  confidence  in  the 
loving  Saviour  he  so  long  preached,  and  his  readiness  and  wil¬ 
lingness  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  which  is  far  better.  We 
know  that  though  his  end  was  sudden,  yet  the  midnight  cry 
found  him  ready.  He  had  not  his  preparation  to  make,  his  lamp 
to  trim  and  fill  with  oil  amid  the  struggles  of  his  dying  hour.  Dr. 
Bergen  was  always  ready.  His  religion  was  that  of  one  who 
had  taken  to  himself  the  whole  armor  of  God,  and  with  cheerful 
expectancy,  and  confident  of  victory,  was  awaiting  the  final  con¬ 
flict.  Death  had  no  terrors  for  him.  He  looked  forward  to  it  as 
an  event  that  was  but  the  opening  of  the  door  to  his  anticipated 
heavenly  rest.  This  absence  of  the  fear  of  death  in  his  case,  was 
no  feigned  effort  to  cover  up  an  ill-founded  hope, but  that  absence 
of  fear  that  finds  all  its  relief  in  believing  the  precious  truths  of 
the  Gospel.  It  was  no  part  of  his  religion  to  keep  off  the  fear  of 
death  by  an  effort  to  persuade  himself  that  his  relations  to  God 
were  not  such  as  are  here  revealed  in  his  word,  and  that  his 
future  happiness  was  not  dependent  on  his  acceptance 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


32 

of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  His  calmness  and 
resignation,  in  view  of  a  change  of  worlds,  was  not  the 
silence  of  that  haughtiness,  and  proud  unbelieving,  stoical  indif¬ 
ference,  that  disdains  to  quail  before  the  Most  High,  and  refuses 
to  regard  its  destiny  in  the  light  of  his  truth.  While  he  was  well 
versed  in  science  and  philosophy,  it  was  not  in  a  science  or  phi¬ 
losophy  that  is  wise  above  what  is  written.  He  did  not  calm  his 
soul  in  the  prospect  of  death  and  eternity,  by  a  studied  effort  to 
banish  from  his  mind  the  revealed  sinfulness  of  the  human  heart 
and  its  natural  penal  consequences  in  that  day  when  all  hearts 
shall  be  judged.  But  accepting  the  clear  scriptural  statement  of 
the  derived  and  actual  sinfulness  of  his  nature,  without  diminish¬ 
ing  aught  from  it,  or  attempting  to  relieve  his  intellectual  concep¬ 
tion,  or  his  heart -of  an  atom  of  its  deserved  condemnation,  fully 
accepting  the  provision  made  in  the  Gospel  for  his  salvation 
through  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  he  could  say,  with  a  sig¬ 
nificance,  that  carried  conviction  with  it,  “  Oh  death  where  is  thy 
sting?  Oh  grave  where  is  thy  victory?”  His  peace  of  mind  was 
essentially  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  knowledge,  and 
which  flows  from  a  true  apprehension  and  a  blessed  experience 
of  the  Gospel. 

Thus  ready,  he  was  always  ready,  waiting  for  death  with  a 
smile,  as  for  the  advance  of  an  already  conquered  foe.  How 
often  has  he  spoken  to  us  of  the  gathering  infirmities  that  warned 
him  of  the  stealthy  approach  of  the  last  enemy,  and  yet  with 
what  composure  and  cheerfulness !  In  his  religious  experience 
he  was  always  joyous,  though  not  extravagant.  You  never  found 
Dr.  Bergen  gloomy  or  melancholy.  He  was  always  the  same. 
His  religious  life  was  not  like  an  uneven,  troubled  sea,  the  waves 
now  rolling  high  and  dancing  in  the  sunshine,  and  then  sinking 
low  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  raking  the  sandy  bottom.  He  was 
not  revelling  one  day  amid  the  fervors  of  religious  enthusiasm, 
and  the  next  despondent  and  gloomy,  crying,  “Who  will  show  us 
any  good?”  Hor  was  he  in  his  spiritual  being  like  the  stillness 
of  a  lake  unruffled  by  a  breeze,  in  which  vessels  lie  becalmed, 
but  rather  as  the  living,  running  water  of  a  deep,  broad  river, 
moving  majestically,  and  flowing  on  steadily  to  the  sea. 

His  clear  intellectual  perceptions  of  the  truth  made  him  a  wise 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DISCOURSE.  33 

instructor.  His  devotion  to  the  Master  made  him  an  earnest, 
faithful  laborer,  and  as  he  now  goes  to  his  reward,  it  is,  we  feel, 
to  “  return  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.” 
While,  like  Whitfield,  he  died  silent,  unable  with  his  last  breath  to 
give  his  testimony  for  Christ,  yet,  like  Whitfield,  he  could  afford 
to  die  silent.  He  needed  no  dying  testimony  with  which  to  sup¬ 
plement  his  living  testimony.  The  testimony  of  a  long  and  use¬ 
ful  Christian  life  speaks,  and  speaks  well  for  him.  Of  him  it 
may  be  truly  said,  “He  being  dead  yet  speaketh.”  Many  are  the 
monuments  of  his  labors  in  this  western  land.  These  churches, 
not  only  of  the  city,  but  of  the  surrounding  country,  speak  of 
him,  and  speak  for  him.  The  children  of  three  generations 
may  here  rise  up  to  call  him  blessed.  The  cause  of  Christ,  the 
cause  of  temperance,  of  education,  of  morality  and  of  humanity, 
all  speak  of  him.  His  name  is  blended  alike  with  the  interests  of 
church  and  State.  Others  may  have  possessed  talents  marked  by 
more  brilliancy  perhaps,  but  few  have  possessed  such  a  combina¬ 
tion  of  valuable  endowments  fitted  to  carry  them  through  life 
with  usefulness  to  society  and  glory  to  God.  His  serene  and  • 
venerable  aspect,  his  overflowing  kindness,  his  prompt  and  gen¬ 
erous  interest  in  other’s  wants  and  sorrows,  and  the  whole  bear¬ 
ing  of  his  life  betrayed  the  commerce  of  his  soul  with  heaven, 
and  left  the  impression  on  every  heart,  “Thou  also  wast  with 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.” 

This  dear,  good  man  is  gone  to  his  reward.  Full  of  years  and 
usefulness,  he  is  gathered  to  his  fathers.  Life’s  work  is  done  and 
well  done.  We  lay  him,  amid  the  depths  of  his  life’s  last  win¬ 
ter,  in  the  silent  grave,  to  see  his  face  no  more.  “  Like  the  snow 
that  falls  in  the  river — a  moment  white,  then  melts  forever,”  he 
passes  from  our  sight.  We  shall  miss  him;  miss  him  here;  miss 
him  in  his  home;  miss  him  everywhere  till  we  meet  him  on  the 
shining  shore.  Till  then  let  us  remember  the  words  he  spoke 
while  he  was  yet  with  us,  and  go  strengthened  from  his  tomb  to 
live  his  life,  and  die  his  death,  and  reach  his  crown. 

Dear  afflicted  friends,  you  know  who  is  able  in  the  darkness  of 
your  bereavement  to  give  you  comfort.  Though  the  presence  of 
this  loved  one  will  no  more  be  with  you,  to  cheer  you  in  life’s 
journey,  there  is  a  voice  of  a  “friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a 
—5 


34  '  FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 

brother,”  whispering  in  this,  your  hour  of  sorrow,  “  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end.”  “I  will  never  leave  thee  nor 
forsake  thee.”  “  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father’s  house  are  many  man¬ 
sions;  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.”  Oh  with  what 
winning  words  of  comfort  does  that  blessed  Saviour  meet  us  in 
our  darkest  hour.  Lean  upon  him  now;  confide  in  him ;  lay  your 
hand  in  that  of  his,  and  trust  him  to  lead  you  through  the  shad¬ 
ows.  Your  affliction  is  from  his  hand  who  never  afflicts  wil¬ 
lingly,  but  for  our  profit  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  his  holi¬ 
ness.  It  is  his  will  who  doeth  all  things  well.  Do  not  murmur 
or  complain,  but  look  up  and  say,  “Thy  will  be  done.”  “The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord.”  I  have  seen  it  related  somewhere  that  a  gardener 
was  entrusted  by  his  master  with  the  care  and  keeping  of  a  rare 
flower,  which  he  watched  with  special  affection  and  unwearying 
care.  One  morning,  as  he  came  into  the  garden,  he  missed  it. 
His  beautiful  flower  had  disappeared,  and  he  was  deeply  grieved. 

*  He  stood  in  tears  looking  at  the  broken  stem.  Presently  he  was 
told  that  the  master  of  the  house  had  taken  it.  He  was  then 
silent  and  comforted.  Dear,  sorrowing  friends,  if  husband  and 
father  is  gone;  if  the  light  of  your  hearts  and  your  home  has 
^disappeared ;  if  the  flower  you  have  so  long  and  tenderly  cared 
for  has  been  taken,  be  comforted  with  the  thought  that  the  Mas¬ 
ter  has  taken  it;  that  your  treasure  is  in  his  hands;  that, 

“  While  you  weep  as  Jesus  wept, 

He  shall  sleep  as  Jesus  slept ;  • 

With  his  Saviour  he  shall  rest, 

Crowned,  and  glorified  and  blest.” 

And  what  shall  I  say  now,  my  hearers,  that  will  add  to  the 
touching  appeal  this  good  man’s  death  makes  to  us  all?  What  a 
lesson  we  have  here  on  the  influence  of  an  earnest,  useful,  Chris¬ 
tian  life.  See  what  results  flow  from  a  heart  and  life  conse¬ 
crated  to  the  Master’s  service ;  what  sheaves  are  to  be  gathered 
from  such  sowing  and  weeping.  These  cold  lips,  so  eloquent  in 
life,  seem  to  speak  to  us  in  death:  “Go  thou  and  do  likewise.” 
It  is  the  life  that  most  blesses,  that  is  the  most  blessed.  “  They 
that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  in  the  firma- 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


35 

ment  forever,”  We  may  live  to  die  old  as  the  man  that  now  lies 
before  us;  live  till  we  stand  almost  alone,  and  to  be  numbered 
among  the  men  of  ancient  times,  carrying  all  the  weight  and  dig¬ 
nity  of  years,  and  yet  have  lived  to  little  purpose,  even  so  little 
as  to  be  unprepared  to  die.  How  the  words  of  the  sainted  bard 
of  Israel,  which  he  struck  to  the  sad  notes  of  his  heaven-strung 
harp,  appeal  to  us  in  the  presence  of  these  venerable  remains. 
l<  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts 
unto  wisdom.”  It  is  not  a  long  life  that  is  so  much  to  be  coveted 
as  the  life  that  prepares  one  for  a  better  world.  “  Gray  hairs  are 
a  crown  of  glory  if  they  are  found  in  the  ways  of  righteousness.” 
There  are  many  old  men  here  to-day,  and  let  me  say  that  your 
life,  old  as  you  may  be,  is  but  the  infancy  of  your  being.  Your 
manhood  is  beyond  the  grave.  Its  rewards  or  punishment  are 
beyond  the  tomb.  This  life  is  but  the  theatre  for  the  formation 
and  development  of  a  spiritual  life :  the  preparation  for  eternity, 
and, 

“  That  future  life  in  worlds  unknown, 

Must  take  its  hue  from  this  alone.” 

The  character  which  can  alone  tit  us  for  the  highest  useful¬ 
ness,  and  the  greatest  happiness  hereafter,  is  the  religious  char¬ 
acter;  the  character  which  can  only  be  formed  by  dethroning  the 
mind  of  sin,  and  bringing  the  soul  into  vital  contact  with  the 
elevating  principles  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  This  life  is  but  the 
first  link  in  the  chain  of  an  endless  existence,  and  everything 
depends  on  what  we  make  this  first  link.  The  character  of  this 
life  connects  us  with  the  ever  ascending  chain  of  progressive 
joy  or  the  ever  descending  chain  of  progressive  misery.  Oh, 
my  hearer,  what  are  you  making  of  this  little  link  of  probation¬ 
ary  life  that  determines  all  your  future?  How  are  you  project¬ 
ing  your  destiny?  As  the  tree  falleth,  so  shall  it  lie.  It  is  certain 
that  your  tree  of  life  shall  fall,  but  which  way  shall  it  fall? 

There  are  times  when  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  pause  in 
silence  and  hearken  to  the  voice  of  God. 

As  we  lay  the  remains  of  this  venerable  man,  this  servant  of 
Christ,  full  of  years,  in  his  grave,  let  us  hear  the  Spirit’s  warning, 
“  Be  ye  also  ready.”  Let  us  remember,  whether  old  or  young,  that 


36 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


“  the  time  is  short,”  too  short  to  trifle;  too  short  to  waste;  too' 
short  to  delay  or  procrastinate.  “Now  is  the  accepted  time,  and 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation.” 

“  Our  eyes  have  seen  the  rosy  light 
Of  youth’s  soft  cheek  decay  ; 

And  fate  descend  in  sudden  night 
%  On  manhood’s  middle  day. 

Our  eyes  have  seen  the  steps  of  age 
Halt  feebly  to  the  tomb ; 

And  yet  shall  earth  our  hearts  engrxge, 

And  dreams  of  days  to  come  ?” 


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